Hey, Sing Louder Now! Alex Gaskarth fanfic
by CallItTreason
Summary: Alex Gaskarth is currently in a coma. His best friends, Leslie and Jonathan, are trying to bring him back.  Set in highschool, leads up to the formation of ATL and Forever The Sickeset Kids  Rated M for language and sex references later
1. Chapter 1

Leslie

"We don't know if he'll make it, honey." The nurse laid her finger on Alex's neck, checking his pulse. I don't know why she did it, though. He was hooked up to a million machines. ONE had to check heart rate.

"If he doesn't come out of this coma soon… we might have to let God take him."

The world froze. You could've told me it was all a dream, and I would've believed it.

It was at that precise moment that the world was swirling around me, all the colors; or should I say SHADES of the same color, white, painted my vision, along with flashes of bright light… I felt so, happy. And odd feeling for someone standing in a hospital, with one of your best friends almost lying dead beside you.

…I was alive.

Free.

Things I haven't felt since last Tuesday, when one stupid decision, like deciding to drive faster when the light was red, ruined my life.

I wasn't there.

But he was.

I felt myself stumbling, falling. But I didn't try to catch myself. What was the use anyway? Everything was moving so slowly.

Would it hurt if I hit the ground?

You know, I have no idea. I'm about to find out.

I didn't put my hands out to catch myself, only let gravity lead me.

Slowly, I hit the ground. It didn't hurt after all; I just felt my consciousness slipping away from me. Its ok, I'll get it back later.

I can't remember how long I lived in the darkness, without the guiding light of my eyes.

But I do remember waking up.

"…Leslie? Lessslliieeeee… wake up, please?" I recognized the voice.

It was Alex's voice, it HAD to be. I fought back the drowsiness enough to open my eyes.

"Jonathan?" I asked, seeing my other best friend's face staring back at me. He had my head in his lap, stretched out on one of the uncomfortable bed-type things in the hospital rooms. A quick glance to my right showed me that Alex was still here, hooked up to life support, his breathing labored and slow.

It killed me seeing him like this… in this, _coma_.

He's been under for five and a half days. Each day that he doesn't wake up is just another wasted.

Another day that I won't hear his voice, a day that won't be filled with pointless arguments between Jonathan, Alex and I over the stupidest things: music, dates, TV shows… anything.

"Yeah, I'm here." Jonathan absently stroked my hair out of my face. "You took quite the fall. You ok?"

"Does it matter?" I mumbled, closing my eyes again.

"Duh." Jon's voice lit up, ever so slightly. "You don't want Alex to wake up to YOU being all fucked up. You know what will happen then, right?"

He offered a smile. He was trying so hard to hold it together for the two of us, even though he was just as heartbroken as I was without Alex.

He wanted me to smile. I could tell that the thought of losing his other best friend would kill him. I sucked it up and played along. "What, Jon? What's gonna happen?"

"Alex will kill ME. And then we can all have matching 'BFF' casts that everyone can sign."

I chuckled softly, a hollow sound. Jon's face relaxed.

"Do you want to… go somewhere?" he asked.

"Jon, I can't leave…" I whispered. "What if he wakes up?"

"Leslie, c'mon. I think we both need this."

The same nurse from earlier knocked on the door.

"Come in." Jon flatly answered.

She was a pretty woman, short and stout, with wispy blonde hair pulled up in a bun. I'd guess that she was around 40, with the temperament similar to a grandma's.

"Kids, it's almost 7, visiting hours are gonna be over soon." She said softly, leaving the room once more.

Jonathan and I rose without protest. We slipped on our coats and stood by Alex's beside.

He looked so pale, so unlike himself. His hair was messy, and his face was covered in stubble, a product of not shaving for almost a week. The hospital gown he wore accentuated his bony structure, making him look like a skeleton.

"Hey Jon?" I whispered.

"Yeah?" he answered, at the same level.

"Can I… have a minute alone… with Alex?"

"Yeah." He kissed me on the cheek and walked out of the room.

I took a deep breath, hoping for a sign from Alex.

…Nothing. He hadn't changed at all.

"Alex…" I started. I knew that I probably looked crazy, but I had to try.

It always works in the movies. The girl takes his hand and cries over her love's lifeless body, and somehow, magically, he wakes up.

It's worth a try.

We're running out of ideas.

I reached out and touched his hand softly, almost afraid.

My fingers recoiled at the touch, but I forced them to wrap around his warm hand.

"Wake up." I whispered.

I felt the bitter sting of tears, threatening to overflow.

"Alex." I repeated.

Nothing.

I shuddered as I sucked in a breath.

"Wake up!" I said loudly. My voice was cracking and a few tears escaped the confines of my eye.

"ALEX! God dammit!" I stamped my foot on the linoleum and started sobbing.

Probably drawn from all the noise, the nurse and Jonathan rushed in.

The instant he saw me, Jon wrapped his arms around me.

"Shh…" he whispered, stroking my hair.

"But Jon-" I started.

"Shh!" he ordered. He held me tightly, and I felt his body shake from silent sobs.

I just stood there. I had to be Jonathan's rock. He was there for me.

The nurse was busy checking one of the monitors, and writing something furiously on her clipboard. I was about to ask what she was doing, but Jonathan beat me to it.

"What is that?" asked Jonathan, obviously composed again. I'll take the fact that he cried to the grave with me. He's too tough to cry.

"It's an electromagnetic graph." She replied, writing furiously on a clipboard. "It measures brain activity."

"What's the red mean?" I asked. The screen showed a lot of pink and red blotches on it. Just a second ago it was dark blue.

"It means…" she started. "He's thinking. He's reacting."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Ok, so I have a lot of this typed up, I'm just staggering it.  
I'm sorry if I bug you with my plot twists ;) the next chapter has more to come :)  
Peace, love, and ice cream :) 3  
"I just wanna line you up from one end of Manhattan to the other and kiss ALL of you :)" -ATL Straight to DVD**

Jonathan

"Reacting? As in, he's waking up?" I asked hopefully.

Leslie gasped, her voice filled with happiness. "Jon, do you think-?"

The nurse raised her hand at us in a gesture that said, 'Stop talking' and she stared at the activity on the monitor. We both fell silent but you could feel the hum of excitement exiting Leslie and I's bodies. He's coming BACK! Alex is still here!

We kept our eyes on the monitor, not really knowing what to expect, but the nurse did, so we assumed she'd tell us.

I don't know how long we stared at that screen, but it sure felt like a while.

The nurse broke the excited tension by laying a finger on Alex's cheek. She looked upset.

The mood turned from happy to nervous in 2 seconds flat.

"Isn't he… going to wake up?" Leslie whispered.

There was an anxious silence. The nurse turned to face us with tear-filled eyes.

"Not right now, sweetheart." She sighed and wiped her eyes.

I felt my heart breaking. I wanted to look at Leslie, but I knew the expression that would be on her face. I swear I died a little more inside each time I saw that look of utter helplessness cross her eyes.

"…But he's making progress. SIGNIFICANT progress. I don't know what inspired it, but _something's_ going on in his head right now." added the nurse.

The room fell silent after that. The three of us stood together and stared at Alex's lifeless body.

Leslie swallowed hard. "Jon, I… I think we should…" she stared longingly at Alex.

"Yeah." I finished for her, taking her hand.

I stole one last glance at the monitor; it was coated in greenish blobs.

The nurse sighed. "I'm going to do whatever I can to help your friend."

"Thank you." Leslie whispered.

"My name's Cindy." The nurse touched Leslie's hand. "If anything happens, tell them to call for Cindy. I want to be here if…" she trailed off. "…I mean, _when _Mr. Gaskarth wakes up."

She offered us a smile.

Leslie nodded and walked towards the door.

I started to follow, but Cindy grabbed the end of my scarf.

"Watch her." She warned, nodding towards Leslie with a nervous look in her eyes.

I didn't understand what she meant, but I nodded anyway. I was desperate to get out of here. I hated the smell of this place.

I caught up to Leslie and wrapped my arm around her shoulder.

"You doin' okay, sweetie?"

She looked down and nodded. We walked in silence for the rest of the way to the elevators.

Just then, we heard shouting. "WATCH OUT! EMERGENCY! COMING THROUGH!"

Two doctors came tearing around the corner, pushing a stretcher with a man on it.

To keep her from getting run over, I pulled Leslie into me, much closer than we should've been as 'just friends.'

…I was surprised that it felt nice.

The guys with the stretcher had already passed, and yet we still stayed unbelievably close.

I never really got a good look at Leslie before. She'd always been my best friend. She was like my sister I never had.

Wow. It took all of two seconds, and a really close encounter to change that.

_The fact that she only came up to my chin in height was kinda sexy. _

_And her hair… I used to make fun of her for her blonde highlights in her brown hair… but now that I look at it, it's… kind of hot. _

_Brown eyes…? I've never seen a shade so chocolately… _

_God, what on earth is she wearing? Lingerie? You can see EVERYTHING through that shirt._

I don't want to say what I'm about to say, but…

I'm kinda happy Alex isn't here. He's my only competition.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Don't ask me where this came from. This is TOTALLY not like me! Seriously!**

**I wrote this starting at ****2 AM**** a week or two ago. I think I was high or something. No joke, the next day it was like I was reading this over for the first time because I had no idea what I even wrote. So anyways, enjoy.**

**~Lauren**

Leslie

Tuesday hit me like a freight train.

It's been a WHOLE WEEK since I've heard Alex's voice.

I skipped school today. No one would miss me.

Well… I take that back. Anyone that WOULD miss me is with me right now.

I sighed to myself and rolled over on my bed. I didn't care that Jonathan saw this side of me. Sometimes you just hit a point where you can't take anymore disappointment.

Jon was lying next to me, massaging circles onto my back.

"It's all going to work out, sweetheart." He whispered, rubbing a little harder.

I moaned, not out of sexual desire, but purely out of annoyance. "No it's not."

I guess he took it the wrong way, due to the choking sound he made right after I opened my mouth. "Leslieee!" he whined. "Now I have a boner…"

I just ignored him. If this had been any other day, I would've given him a hand job over his boxers… but… it's NOT any other day, so he can deal.

"Pleasee Leslie? Just do it real quick…" he begged.

"NO! _Jonnn!_" I whined, shooing him with my hand.

Something pointy poked my lower back.

"JONNNN!" I yelled, getting extremely annoyed. I turned around with my fist ready to punch him.

He caught my fist and started laughing. What I thought was his boner was really just his finger.

"I'm kidding. Sorry, I wanted to bring some light into the room. I'll stop."

"PLEASE do." I rolled over to lie on my back.

"I'm sorry." Jon sounded like a wounded puppy.

Once more, I ignored him.

"Lessslliiieeee." Jon rolled on top of me.

"Jon! Get OFF!" I positioned my hands on his shoulders and attempted to shove him off. No such luck.

Instead, he just raised an eyebrow at me and said, "You know, maybe you should… move on, Les."

"What do you mean by that?" I growled.

"I _mean… _don't take this the wrong way, but, maybe you should start living your life again. Alex wouldn't want you to be spending all of you time moping arou-"

"You're right." I yelled, cutting him off. It killed me to say it, but he was right. "BUT…" I added, "I'm never giving up hope, Jon. He's my BEST FRIEND."

Jon sat up, now straddling my hips and asked, "What am I then?"

"My best friend." I remarked dismissively.

He stared at me for a second before saying, "Well, it seems to me that you've been… almost ignoring me, lately." I could tell something was bothering him.

I sighed. "Obviously there's something on your mind right now. What is it?"

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. When he opened them, I saw something I've never really seen on Jon. It was hard to place.

…Embarrassment? …Nerves? …Fear? I couldn't tell.

"You're in love with Alex." If I hadn't been paying full attention, I wouldn't have heard it. He said it so quickly and quietly that I was surprised I even picked it up. Jon wouldn't look me in the eyes. In fact, he wouldn't look at me at all. He kept his eyes angled on the floor and was fiddling with his hands.

"Jon. I'm not in love with Alex." It was the truth!

Sure Alex was always there for me, but he has his share of flaws too.

"Then why are you so obsessed with him?" Jon _still_ wouldn't look at me.

"Jon, he's lingering between life and death— we could _LOSE_ him!" I remarked sarcastically.

"What about me?" he yelled. "Why aren't you concerned about _me_?"

"Why _should_ I be concerned about you, Jon! You're absolutely fine!" by now we were practically screaming at each other.

I'm not even entirely sure what we're arguing about, but _something_ tells me he's beating around the bush.

Turns out, he was. Do I know this boy or what?

…But **nothing** could have prepared me for what he did next…

When he didn't answer, I prodded. "…_WELL_…?"

Finally, he looked at me.

He didn't say anything though; he just leaned over my body again, looking like he was about to whisper in my ear.

…That wasn't his intention. At ALL.

The instant I felt his breath on my cheek, I knew it was over.

The fact is, I can't push him off. But then I have to think: do I even want to?

Couldn't hurt, right?

I turned towards Jon. I swear there was less than an inch between our faces.

He repositioned himself to lie on top of me, supporting himself only with his elbows on either side of me. I felt my hands wrapping around his neck.

He leaned in and carefully touched his lips to mine. As soon as he hit them, he pulled away. It surprised me how soft his lips were, and how… _professional _he seemed.

Always the gentleman, he whispered slowly in my ear, "_Just tell me when to stop_."

"But what if I don't want you to stop?" I whispered back, tugging playfully on his hair.

"Well…" he started. "Then I'll do _this_."

He kept my eyes locked on his.

I didn't even flinch when I felt his fingers tracing patterns on my thigh under my sweatpants.

We never broke that eye contact; it was his way of reading my reactions, because I knew he'd stop the instant he thought I was uncomfortable. But I didn't _want_ him to stop. I _wanted_ him to touch me.

He brushed my hair out of my face with his spare hand and kissed me again. The guy who had never tried to get with me was now the one gettin' some.

As we kissed he slowly rose his finger up my inner thigh. When I felt it hit my panties, I sighed happily. He chuckled and pushed the flimsy fabric to the side.

I woke up, at 8:15 PM, in Jonathan's arms.

He was still fast asleep, lightly snoring.

_I can't believe it. _I thought. _Jonathan! THE Jonathan, just fingered me. _

We stopped after that. He had a boner, and I knew it, but he didn't ask for me to take care of it. He just sort of humped my leg until it… _you_ _know_… blew up?

EW! The memory made me cringe. _Why_ did I let him do that? It's gonna take years of extensive therapy to get _that_ image out of my head…

But still, he made me feel really good… I mean, it wasn't weird or anything.

Jon stirred and kissed my hair. I didn't even notice that his hand was under my shirt until he pulled it out.

"You're really beautiful, you know." He whispered, stroking my face.

I blushed and looked away. "Jon, you know I don't do flattery…"

"Well, you should."

I covered my face with my hands to hide away from the embarrassment.

"…and I'm really sorry about the whole Alex thing earlier." He added, smiling nervously.

"Yeah, it's totally ok." I nodded.

"I think we should go see him. It's been a good day, you never know…?"

"Yes, let's." I stood up and sauntered over to the doorway. Jon followed behind me until the end. He stopped me from opening the door.

"Just promise me one thing, ok?"

"Yeah?"

"You'll let me do that again sometime."

I nodded slowly with a large smile on my face.

"Alright, let's go then." Jon opened the door for me and we walked out to his car together.

Something about today was giving me hope. I think he's going to wake up.

I've just got this premonition, baby…


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: So… now I can kind of speed the story up :)  
****FINALLYYYY! :D haha  
****I think I'm going to bring myself into the story later. I HAVE TO! I'm SELFISH! :)  
****There'll be a few cameos of my friends as well :) lemme know if you want in.  
****Love, Lauren **

Jonathan

The instant we got to Alex's room, Leslie jumped on the bed.

She kept stroking his face and whispering things to him. I couldn't make out what she was saying, but it obviously was making her cry.

What DOESN'T make her cry? I mean, honestly! That's all this girl has done lately. She hasn't even made it through a whole day of school yet, and it's been a week.

I felt awkward watching their little intimate moment… almost, _jealous_. God, I hate that word. I've never been the jealous type.

…But then again, when have I ever had anything so perfect to be jealous over? That's it. It's _Leslie_ that's doing this to me. Maybe I've always had feelings for her. Maybe I just never gave them the chance. She's always been there, in the background. Is it weird that now she's taking center stage?

I left Leslie, and walked over to Alex's brain activity chart. Little flares of red were popping up again.

They were bigger than last time, I noticed. I felt the familiar feeling of hope swelling up inside me.

_C'mon, Alex… _I silently urged. _Do it. Do it for US. You can fight this off. _

I looked over at him. He still wasn't showing any physical signs of improvement when Cindy, the same nurse from earlier, took a gliding step into the room.

"Hello, kids." She smiled. "Anything new?"

"No." Leslie sighed. "Nothing at all, actually."

I shook my head and looked at the ground, silently debating whether or not to tell her about the red blotches. _Nah, _I thought. _It's just unnecessary disappointment. I don't want to keep pulling Leslie around._

"Oh, ok…" Cindy's smile faded as she turned to make her way out of the room again.

_Maybe I should say something… It could be a sign._ "W-wait!" I called out, surprised that I even found the voice to yell.

"Yes?" she stopped and turned to look at me.

"Uhh… the graph thing. It's lighting up again." I pointed at the chart.

_Smooth, Jonathan. _I thought.

Leslie looked over at it. "Oh my gosh, Jon, you're right…"

The nurse squinted her eyes to try to see it better. "He _IS_ right…" she whispered under her breath. "Kids, can you step to the side for a second? I'm bringing doctor Kayal in here." A new sense of urgency could be felt in the surroundings. It was almost… hopeful.

Cindy moved to Alex's bedside to check some things out on him. I walked backwards onto the bed thing and let the nurse do her job. Les jumped on my lap.

"You know, we haven't really _talked_ since…"

"Since what?" I raised an eyebrow at her playfully.

She chuckled. "You _know_…"

"No, I really don't…" I smiled and pushed my face closer to hers.

She sighed. "Oh well, then." And to top it all off, she added a smile.

"Leslie, you are amazing." I gushed, staring lovingly at her face.

She groaned. "JONNNNN. Stop ittt."

I merely met her annoyed glare with a cocky smile.

Suddenly, doctors came pouring into the room, and with them came a nervous tension that filled the room.

"Huh? What's going on?" Leslie asked.

"We're going to need you kids to leave." muttered one of the doctors. "We aren't positive as to what it is, but something's happening to him right now."

"Good or bad?" I questioned as they all surrounded Alex.

"We don't know!" yelled another doctor. "Go down to the waiting room, we'll let you know soon."

Leslie got off of me. "C'mon Jon. Let's go." She took my hand and guided me up.

We slowly walked across the tiny room, both of us trying to get a glimpse of Alex, but it was damn-near impossible, due to all of the people in here.

We made it out into the vacant hallway and started the lonely trek to the elevator.

_I think this is where it all started… _I thought as we approached the cold, metal doors. _This is the place that I realized that I loved Leslie. _

"Leslie, I… I have to tell you something…" I swallowed hard and looked down at her.

"Yeah, Jon?" she looked back up at me. The scene from two days ago was still fresh in my mind. I was half-hoping another stretcher would come by, _just_ so I could feel it again.

"This is really hard for me to say. But, I'm going to try." _Deep breaths, get it out, Jon. Say it. "I LOVE YOU, LESLIE!" _

"Go ahead…" she prodded. She was smiling. _I love her smile. I want to take a picture of it and stare at it all day. Why can't every girl be like her? _

"Well, I… I think…"

"KIDS!" Cindy interrupted, running down the hall. "Come quick; it's urgent!"

I mentally cursed her.

"Cindy, what's wrong!" gasped Leslie, completely ignoring me now.

"It's ALEX!" she screamed. "He-He…"

**OOOHHHH cliff hangerrr :)**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: The next chapter will be longer and more will happen. :) I just had to get this one out there, because I can't keep putting off the inevitable. My friend Megan, pronounced 'Maygen' said that I should kill Alex off. This is coming from the same girl who's boyfriend is gay :) [LOVE YOU MAYGEN]**

**And also, I included a longgg flashback where you see how Alex, Jon and Leslie meet... I tried to make it look kind of like how a first-grader would think...  
****So, hopefully I didn't disappoint. I'lll update probably on Sunday, Nov. 28. HAPPY THANKSGIVING :)**

**I love you all, you keep me going. I love looking at my traffic for this story. It makes me smile :) Happy holidays, don't eat too much turkey!**

**-Lauren**

Jonathan

"…He's awake! And he's asking for you." Cindy's eyes were sparkling with unshed tears. I felt my eyes get a little teary too.

Goddamn Alex.

Leslie was already sobbing. "I want to see him. NOW!"

She rushed to past us, running straight to the room. I tried following her, but she was way too fast. Plus, I'm not as small as she is. She didn't have to dodge everything in the hallways like I did.

By the time I finally made it into the room, she was already wrapped around Alex.

I have to admit, I was a little afraid of going back into that room. I didn't know what to expect! Would he be brain-dead? Is he still Alex?

…Or just a hollow body?

I paused at the front of his room, closed my eyes, and took a deep breath.

_Just count to three... _My head told me. _At the count of three you open the door. One... Two... THREE!_

I shoved open the door, slightly agressively. _Fuck... Way to draw attention to yourself. _

Everyone in the room's eyes were now on me. I never really did well with attention. I can trace it all back to a traumatizing event in my childhod...

_"Alright, class... who's going to go first?" Mrs. Burgan, my first grade teacher, asked us. She had a microphone in her hand. One of those cheap ones. You know, the all-plastic kind that when you sing into it, it only magnifies your voice a little to make it sound tinny. "We're going to play karaoke. You can sing any song you like, as long as it's appropriate." _

_Several kids giggled. I never got the humor in the word 'inappropriate.' Apparently it sounds funny, I don't know. _

_I hate this place. There's no one like me here. They're all rude, dirty little kids. No one wants to be my friend, so I'm not going to participate. _

_I put my head down to ignore the screaming and yelling for the microphone. _

_"ME!" a boy named Jim screamed. I never liked him. He took the playground ball from me yesterday. We're officially not friends anymore._

_"No, not him, ME!" yelled Katie, a loud-mouthed little girl who always played with Barbies at recess. _

_"I think Jonathan wants to go." _

_My head popped up. _

_'Who on earth said that?' I thought. 'Are they being funny?' _

_The class went silent except for Mrs. Burgan. "Here you go, honey." She handed me the microphone. _

_A boy in the backseat of the class smiled at me. 'So HE'S the one who nominated you...'_

_He seemed harmless. He was dressed better than most of the kids in class, and looked like he came from a good family. However, he was missing his two front teeth and his hair looked like he brushed it with a horse comb... but at this point, I really didn't care. SOMEONE wants to be my friend. I cracked a smile and belted out the first notes of 'Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.'_

_To say I was off-key would be the nice way of putting it. I sounded like a dying cat. Tears were stinging my eyes, but I didn't want to cry._

_The whole class erupted into laughter, even Mrs. Burgan. That's when I looked over to the back of the class again. The same boy from earlier was still there... Only, he wasn't laughing. He was just sitting there with a smile on his face. _

_I left the front of the room, sat down back in my seat, buried my face in my hands and cried. Silently I hated the boy from earlier. _

_'He set me up. He WANTED me to look dumb.' I managed to convince myself that I hated him._

_"Alright, class..." Mrs. Burgan attempted to restore order. I still didn't look up. "Recess, go on." Kids started to file out of the classroom just as i was slowly lifting my head up. I hung my head and walked out the door to recess... alone._

_I made it to the swings and sat on one. No one ever played on the swings. They were for 'babies,' as the kids in my class put it. I don't care, I've ruined my rep enough lately._

_"Uh... hey." A voice came from out of nowhere. I jumped. _

_"Whoa, chill, it's just me." It was the boy from earlier. _

_"Oh." I looked down at the woodchips under the swing. _

_"Look, I'm sorry. I didn't think that would happen. I'm new here." He extended his hand. "I'm Alex. You seemed like the only cool guy here. Everyone else is so wrapped up in drama."_

_There was something off about his voice... it sounded different from mine and all the other kids. I shook his hand anyway. "I'm Jonathan... and, if you don't mind me asking, why do you talk funny?" _

_"I talk funny?" Alex giggled. "No, my friend, YOU talk funny." _

_"No." I stated. "Everyone else talks like me too." _

_"True." he stopped laughing and smiled. "But in England, it would be YOU who would be the funny talker." _

_"It's all relative." I smiled too and hopped off the swings. "So you're from England?"_

_"Yeah, I'm from Essex. It's a far way away." He frowned and looked down. _

_"Hey, don't be sad. It's ok." I patted him on the shoulder. _

_"I'm a trooper." he wiped his eyes. _

_"Don't cry, dude!" I was desperately trying to save the situation. I'm such a jerk, bringing up England... "Girls don't like it when you cry!"_

_"Umm... yeah we do! It means that you're sensitive and not afraid to show your feelings. My older sister told me that. And she's a 6th grader. She knows EVERYTHING." A small brunnette girl stopped playing with her Barbies to walk over to us. "Ohmygosh! Is he okay?" She hugged Alex and he slowly stopped crying. _

_"There you go. Just a little love, that's all you need." she smiled and turned to face me. "I'm Leslie."_

_"Hey, I'm Jon."_

_"I'm Alex." Her eyes widened when Alex spoke. _

_"You know, girls also like accents..." she blew a kiss at Alex who pretended to catch it with his hands. _

Alex's head snapped up and a small smile played on his lips.

All my fears subsided when I heard him weakly utter in greeting to me, "It's my manwhore!"

"Nice to have you back, Lex." I chuckled, walking towards him.

For a second, I saw us all as little kids.

Cindy walked in and shattered the moment.

"Alex, honey, do you mind if we ask you a few questions?"

"Yeah, sure." He mumbled.

"Ok..."

I had a few questions of my own, but most importantly, _What on earth did Leslie say that caused him to wake up?_

**And that is how Alex wakes up. :)**

**Keep reading, guys, next chapter introduces some new people :)**

**Be safe, happy holidays. (again) haha**


	6. Chapter 6

**Dear strange stalker who reads this against my better wishes,  
****STOP CALLING ME AND ASKING ME QUESTIONS! IT'S AWKWARD!  
****You know who you are .  
****Love, Lauren  
****Whoa, danggg… she did it. :)  
****I'm writing a chapter in Alex's point of view. :D Honestly, I have a million ideas flowing through my head right now. They're all along the same lines… sorta. :P  
****I'm hoping to get another fic going, 4 of my friends want them D:  
****For right now I want to stick with this one, Bethany's (I'm writing it now, love), Nikkis's, (when I finally finish it) and my new one starring me and Maygen. :)  
****I haven't updated in a while, and I apologize for that…  
****Ack, don't let me ruin the story:  
****Here it is, I worked hard on it:) After all, it only took me, what, FOREVER to write(:  
****I tried to make Alex sound crazy, after all, he IS all drugged up haha  
****And I think its time that me and a few friends enter the scene :) bahaha**

**Lauren **

Alex

_Sonofabitch. _My head is killing me. The only thing keeping me going is that it's Friday.

_Friday. _I fantasized about it all week.

_It's the day I go home. _

I've been cooped up in this god forsaken hospital for ages. My legs ached to run again. I wanted to see something other than these… _walls. _

It's like they're staring at me… ready to close in at any given second. Whenever I focused too hard on them I'd start hyperventilating.

_They're trying to KILL me!_

My heart would pound and my hands would shake until someone else came into the room. I'm not sure why, but someone else being in the same room as me puts me into perspective.

_Walls don't move, Alex._

Leslie and Jon haven't been by in a while. I'd suspect that they're up to something… but what do I know? The doctors rendered me in a _'mild state of insanity'_ for the time being. Apparently all the meds I'm drugged up on can do that to a person.

There's NOTHING wrong with me. I'm perfectly fine.

I SWEAR. WHY DO PEOPLE KEEP TELLING ME I'M SCREWED UP IN THE HEAD?

There was a knock at the door.

"Come in!" I called.

"Hey," Jon sauntered in and sat down beside the bed.

"Hey." I muttered, still looking around.

"Dude. We _gotta_ talk." Jon was smiling. WAY smiling.

"…Yeah?" I tentatively responded. It's never good when he smiles like that…

"DUDE!" he yelled, piercing the perfect silence. The silence of my sanity.

"Whhaaaa!" I cried. The loud noise hurt my ears. I covered them to protect them.

"Leslie… it's Leslie…"

Jon looked like the biggest dumbass in the world right now. He was acting like he was high… we did that once, back in 9th grade... I should be able to remember it… I don't know why it was so difficult to think.

YEP, he's high.

"She's AMAZING! Alex, I think I love her…" he held my hand tightly and smiled all loopily. His quick movement stirred the peace in the room. I could see the dust particles swirl in the sunlight as he pierced the air with his arm.

"_!" _I smacked his hand off me. Sudden movements made me nervous.

My eyelid was already feeling kinda twitchy. I was hoping Jon wouldn't notice at first, but now I wish he would. Maybe it would scare him, or something.

He kept his grip on my hand and stopped moving. Silence returned to the room once more and he stared at me. We held eye contact for about 5 seconds.

"ALEX! DUDE!" he jumped backwards and landed on the floor. The once happy expression on his face was replaced with one of pure shock.

"W-what's wrong with your EYE?"

I smacked my spare hand over my left eye and stuttered out, "I- I don't KNOW!"

Jon skittered onto his feet and marched over to my bedside.

He sucked in a deep breath and looked me over with a disapproving glare. "We gotta get you outta here."

"I know… I'm in a 'Mild state of-"

Cindy, the nurse here, barged through the door and slapped on some latex gloves. She seemed sort of huffy, almost in a rush… it was odd, didn't fit her personality at all…

"Alex, honey," she panted. "You're free to go now."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: So guys, I'd like to apologize for the wait! I'm just super busy but don't worry – I WILL update. I have a new oneshot idea and possibly a new story, so we'll see (: Thanks for all the favoriting of my stories! Means SO much (:**

**-Lauren**

In only a matter of minutes, I was buckling my seat belt in the front seat of Jon's car. He had just returned from stuffing my bag from the hospital into the trunk.

We sat in silence, the car was off, Jon's hands gripping the steering wheel.

"Lex. We were so worried about you… What- what happened out there, bro?"

_Details. _The things in life I hated the most. Somehow it always seemed that they were what destroyed me in the end, be it a friendship or a lit paper. His nervous tone left me no choice but to answer him.

I parted my lips slowly and urged words to come out.

_What exactly happened that night…?_

I was considering making something up to tell Jon but now I've realized that I can't even remember what TRULY had happened.

It was a crash, supposedly. "Jon… I honestly have no clue."

Jon nodded slowly. I could tell he didn't believe me.

"I mean that too." I breathed. "I wish I knew." _'So I could get the asshole back that hit me' My mind filled in for me._

Jon half-smiled and laid a hand on my shoulder. "It's okay, man. Just take your time."

He twisted the keys into the car and backed out cautiously.

"JONNNN." I whined. "Just drive the car, ok?" I'm not 'scared'"

"…Alright, Alex." He drove away, much faster.

When we pulled into Jon's driveway, I felt a familiar sense of anxiety. The fact that I would be soon home, in my best friend's house to just chill and fuck around almost made me forget all the shit we'd been through.

I knew from the instant I opened the front door that something was up. I _sensed _an unfamiliar presence…

_Damn meds. _I thought.

Jon led me down the hall where we slowly approached the living room.

"Hey Alex…" he said loudly – louder than he should have. "We missed you… a lot. And well, because of that, I put together a little party for you…"

At the word 'party,' at least fifty people came pouring into the room. Someone switched off the lights and within seconds, loud, heavy bass rap music started playing.

I couldn't help it. A huge smile broke across my face just as Jon thrust a can of beer into my hand. He winked and I noticed for the first time Leslie under his arm. She already had a cup of beer in her hand and a dumbass smile on her face, leading me to believe that she was already gone and the alcohol had taken over. _So unlike her. _

She ran to me and wrapped her arms sloppily around me. "I missed you!" she cried, just as she gripped Jon's hand and pulled him into the large group of people at the center of the room.

"Tell me how she is!" I called after him with a wink, feeling myself return to normal. I was making sex jokes. Maybe a party IS what I needed.

A chick named Megan from our school came up from behind and started grinding her hips against me. "Hey Alex…" she slurred, winking.

I had already finished the beer Jon had given me and I was slowly beginning to feel the buzz kick in.

"Well HELLO there." I winked, feeling slightly turned on.

"Wanna dance?" she smiled and pushed me towards the 'dance floor' – otherwise known as Jon's living room. I had someone toss me a beer and we pushed our way to the center of the crowd.

In a matter of seconds, I had Megan grinding on me and a pretty big boner. The familiar sex drive kicked in, and I felt myself slowly pulling her upstairs to the bedrooms before you could say "Budweiser." She slammed me up against a wall, and pulled my head down to hers to kiss me sloppily. There was no 'magic' in the kiss. It was pure, unrated, teenage lust.

I reached down to pull her shirt off, but she dodged my hand and threw open the door to the closest bedroom and winked. I didn't even notice that the light was on, and the bedroom was occupied already until I heard a piercing scream from the bed.

"OH MY GOD! GET OUT!"

I looked to the source and saw a girl about my age, staring back with an expression of pure disgust. She was sitting on her bed with a book in her hand and iPod speakers blasting so loud in her ears, I could hear it from across the room.

Megan sighed loudly and rolled her eyes dramatically. "Oh please. There's a party going on downstairs, ok? Get lost." If looks could kill, Megan would've already committed murder.

The girl's jaw fell down, along with my boner.

"So did you fuck her?" Jack begged, a little too eagerly.

"Calm down." I muttered, with a cocky grin on my face. Jon, Leslie, Jack and I were sitting at the lunch table and I had just finished recounting the last week's events.

"Oh yeah." I lied. I couldn't allow the world to know that THE Alex Gaskarth let a girl get away. "But I mean really – who the FUCK goes to a party and READS the whole time?"

Jon and Leslie both exploded into laughter.

"What's so funny?" I cried.

Between gasps of air, Leslie spoke: "That's Jon's cousin, Lauren. She goes here."

"Her family was visiting for the weekend-" Jon started, then stopped, laughing. "-You scared the shit out of her."


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: I've been putting this off… obviously. The "Megan" character in here… I cut her from the plot line henceforth due to the fact that the real life Megan & I are having issues .**

**Anyways, I went to ATL's concert and fell in love, all over again, with the band. :] They're amazing live and if you have the chance I suggest you go see them ! **

**Updates will be hella more frequent, since school's almost out. YEAHHH SUMMER! And yeah, that's pretty much it. **

**I'm not sure how much longer I want to make this, I'm more of a one-shotter, but hey, let's see how this goes!**

**Love, Lauren**

Jonathan

After lunch, I couldn't stop chuckling. Lauren hadn't mentioned that Alex had sex in her bed.

That's wrong on SO many levels, but… that's Alex, for ya…

I met up with Lauren on the way back to class. "Oh hey there, cousin!" I winked at her.

She rolled her eyes and turned her back to me. We haven't been on speaking terms since the party.

"Lauren!" I groaned, throwing my head back. She'd have to cut the act _sometime. _

She paused in the middle of the crowded hallway to shoot me a look. One that said: 'if we weren't in public, I'd kill you right here, right now.'

I jogged up to her and stared at her shoulder until she continued walking. I trotted beside her and felt awfully alone in this large crowd of people.

The silence was a tad bit unusual and I was starting to feel more uncomfortable walking beside her by the second.

I finally couldn't take it anymore, 20 whole seconds of silence was enough to drive me mad.

"What Alex did…" I started.

"…was disgusting?" she nearly screeched. "He's a PIG. I cannot believe he had the NERVE to bring that girl upstairs. I mean, obviously his intentions were morally unjust! I shouldn't have had to witness that! I'm completely shocked-"

"Lauren! I know." I hushed her, suddenly yearning for the silence and empty feeling to return. We approached my locker and we stopped, she stood facing my side as I hurried to unlock the door. "He made a dick move. He should apologize."

"And what if I don't want it?" she placed her hands on her hips and cocked her head to the left.

"I… I don't know what to tell ya, then." I slammed my locker door shut, realizing that there was really no need to go to it in the first place.

We resumed walking, this time to my car, ready to head home.

I didn't think now would be the best time to tell her that I was taking Alex back to the house with us.

She grumbled all the way back; I didn't really listen. She kept going on about something - chemistry tests and lit finals were a frequent subject.

When my car came into view, I knew I wouldn't have to break the news to her, she already saw Alex sitting on the hood of my car, talking to Leslie. I couldn't help the sudden pang of jealousy that hit me.

"Jon!" she screamed, stopping in her tracks. "I'm not going in that car."

Her jaw was set and she was glaring at me, her eyes burning holes into my face.

Her little outburst brought me back to the world of Lauren and Alex, and away from the world of Leslie, the only world I really had a desire to be a part of…

"Sorry, cuz!" I held my hands up in surrender. "I always drive him home. You're the new kid!"

She angled a glare at me and stepped towards the passenger seat.

"NOOO!" I yelled, eyes wide. The thought of Leslie being stuck in the backseat with Alex was too much for me. "Backseat. That's for my lady." I winked at Leslie and she shot me a look.

"I wouldn't have minded sitting in the back, Jon." She growled while passing me, on the way to the passenger seat.

Lauren rolled her eyes and climbed in the back. Alex gave me a dramatic wink before sitting beside her.

On the drive home, Leslie and I talked freely. However, the tension radiating from the back was extremely uncomfortable and caused many an awkward silence. When we finally reached my driveway and stepped out of the car, we noticed something different between Lauren and Alex, almost a mutual agreement of tolerance.

I was about to give Alex a pat on the back, when he drew his hand back and slapped Lauren's ass.

So much for achieving something, Alex.

The look on Lauren's face was priceless. Her cheeks flushed a bright pink and she stormed into the house, Alex hot on her tail to apologize.

I mentally sighed, and turned to Leslie. She was covering her face with her hands, attempting to stifle a giggle. I had to admit, it was pretty funny.

"Excuse me, ma'am," I placed my hand on her shoulder, "what's a pretty girl like you doing all alone out here?"

She chuckled and gripped my collar. "I'm not alone." And she winked at me slyly, before pulling me behind the extremely tall bushes on the side of the house.


End file.
